Warmachine: Retribution’s Reckoning
The Crusade continues! Trevy the Great here with some Reckoning talk! This time I’ll be covering the sneaky elves of the Retribution of Scyrah.
As the crusade against the filthy human arcanists continues, the Retribution of Scyrah is reinforced by new troops and war machines from Iosan houses who have not previously been joined the fight in the new expansion for Warmachine, Reckoning.
What’s up guys!? It’s Trevy the Great here again with some more Reckoning talk! This time I’ll be covering the sneaky elves of the Retribution of Scyrah and the reinforcements they’ve received to expand their crusade against the villainous human magic users. As always, I’m not going to go too deep into the rules of each release as they’re available just about everywhere, just my thoughts on how they will perform on the table.
First up is the Retribution’s newest addition to their pool of Warcasters; Thyron, the Sword of Truth. An oddly tall, medium-based elf (which makes him a little hard to hide from enemy attacks), Thyron is exciting because he brings a strong late-game to the table with his personal threat. His suite of buffs is very powerful and he brings a very strong toolbox to the game; buffing accuracy with his Feat, handing out Blessed or Pathfinder and significantly increasing the efficacy of powerful Retribution combat solos with Storm Rager. Given Ret’s excellent selection of powerful melee troops, Thyron’s army will hit hard once it gets into melee. The issue is getting there; Retribution troops don’t tend to be particularly resilient and Thyron does nothing to help them get up the table. That said; against Factions like Circle or Legion that will crumple once a couple of those infantry or important solos make it up the table with boosted attack rolls, Thyron can present a very credible threat.
The Helios was one of the most interesting spoilers released at Templecon this year; the idea of a support-focused Colossal with no ranged damage output was not only unique but potentially very strong. On the other hand, if the Helios did not bring strong enough support capability, it ran the risk of becoming a glorified paperweight. As it stands, I think the Helios treads this line perfectly. Its Tractor Beam is just powerful enough (with the potential for a 9” pull after an 8” charge) to present a viable threat on the table while the ‘jack spends its time buffing up its survivability or helping fuel the heavy battlegroups that ‘casters like Vyros2 or Kaelyssa are now taking. Late-game the big ‘jack still hits with the power of a Colossal, clocking in at P+S 22 as long as its Arcanists are still going. One of the most interesting rules on its card is Immunity to Fire, representing a huge change in the game for Retribution players into one of their current worst matchups; Legion of Everblight. With fire-heavy gunlines such as Lylyth2 unable to damage the Colossal, Legion will be forced into playing a stronger melee game against Retribution in order to fell the mighty machines; where their dragonspawn will be met with the martial prowess and crushing fists of the Iosan war machine.
An unexpected release to the admittedly small pool of Retribution solos is the Soulless Voidtracer; an anti-magic 1 point filler that helps cement the Factions hatred of enemy spellcasters. Completely shutting down 1-wound ‘casters such as Druids, enemy Battle Mages or Hex Hunters and is strong enough for 1-point, but also the added benefit of Stealth and a Reach, P+S 12 weapon makes them a steal. It has also been ruled that the Arcane Vacuum auras around each model stack with each other, creating the potential to inflict crippling damage on Warcasters or multi-wound spellcasters that try to use their foul magics against the brave warriors of the Retribution.
Lastly on the list of Retribution releases was another surprise; the House Vyre Electromancers. While it was nice to see some Vyre-specific troops join the roster of Retribution options, opinions on their effectiveness are pretty divided. At RAT 6 these guys’ powerful guns aren’t going to be hitting with a great deal of reliability without a hit buff from ‘casters like Issyria or Ravyn and with a below-average defensive statline and one box they are at risk of being sniped out incredibly easily. On the other hand; if they are able to be delivered and buffed appropriately, a single unit of Electromancers can inflict crippling damage. With the potential to deliver 12 hits to clusters of enemy infantry or 9 POW 12 damage rolls onto a heavier target, Electromancers can make very effective use of Retribution buffs to annihilate their enemies. With a damage buff such as Kiss of Lylyss from Aiyana and Holt and Ossyan’s Feat, Gravity Well, the unit can bring to bear a possible 9 POW 14 boosted damage rolls to a single target. While it remains to be seen how effective they will be in practice, the unit has the potential to be very powerful on the table.
Are you a Retribution player? What do you think about the new releases in Warmachine: Reckoning? Remember to tune into Way of the Swan for some more awesome Warmachine and Hordes content!
